In the year 2009, I gave birth to my son. After this event in my life, my suffering began. I started to find it hard to sleep at night. I often would stay awake each night staring at the ceiling of my room. It lasted for about a week and I began to have hallucinations and delusions. I also stopped taking baths and caring for my personal hygiene. Besides seeing Jesus Christ and Mother Mary, I believed that someone was out there, wanting to kill me. I was kicked out of my job, and become a beggar on the street. I would often go from one fast food place to another, trying to scavenge food that would be my meal for each day.  I walked miles and miles, and literally lived on the street.

My life continued that way until a neighbor help me out. She fed and clothed me, and had me stay in her house for a month. After that, she called my parents from the province to take me to the hospital. I was saved because I got my medication from the hospital.

It has been almost 7 years now, and here I am, breathing and still alive. But whenever I see people on the street with mental illness, I feel scared again. I get scared that I might end up on the street again, homeless, broke, and very ill.

I hope that this blog will serve as a wake-up call to our society to care for people that we see on the street, living in rags, and coping with mental health issues. I hope that in my country, the Philippines particularly, that the government officials and its citizens would have the heart for the people like me. People like me who were once homeless, once hopeless, and live with mental illness.

Read the rest of Rome’s posts here.